


We, on an atomic level

by ficasim



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 06:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2338331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficasim/pseuds/ficasim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akaashi Keiji liked simple things. And the simplest way to approach things, to a fifteen-year-old him, was to look at what’s in front of his eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We, on an atomic level

Akaashi Keiji liked simple things. And the simplest way to approach things, to a fifteen-year-old him, was to look at what’s in front of his eyes.

 

All his life, Akaashi Keiji had walked with his eyes facing forward. Forward, not up or down or backwards. Forward, because looking down felt like he’s pitying his life and looking up felt like he’s overly hopeful. Looking backwards would just result in his hitting a pole or tripping over something, on top of facing his past mistakes he had chosen to leave behind. When he thought about it later on, it’s likely that he had just not known where else to look.

 

Playing volleyball was also simple. He might not have the simplest position in the team, but the objective was simple all the same: to score as much as possible, and only letting the other team score as little as possible. Keep an eye on the team and get into position. Keep an eye on the opponent and think of the best strategy. Keep an eye on the ball and deliver it to the best spiker for that set up. That’s all there was, look no further.

 

Things had been simple throughout middle school, naturally he’d expect it not to differ so much now that he was in high school. Until he met a certain Bokuto Koutarou.

 

\--

 

It took him almost a year to get used to how the team worked, with a greater part of the year spent on figuring out how Bokuto Koutarou worked. He was made to do uncomfortable things, adrenaline-pumping things, tiring things, fun things, confusing things, amazing things, all because that was how anything with Bokuto was like. Keeping up with him meant looking up and down, left and right, front and back, and all over the place because it was Bokuto and Bokuto was the most complex simpleton that Akaashi had unknowingly let into his life.

 

It was only by the end of his first year in high school that Akaashi Keiji managed to decipher the Bokuto code.

 

\--

 

The first time Bokuto had asked him for something other than tosses happened on a fine September day. He had not known it was Bokuto’s birthday and he had apologised upon the knowledge of it. Bokuto had just laughed that laugh that might rival the sun in brightness and told him that it was fine. He had also made Akaashi promise to give something awesome for the next year and that he was sure to remember it.

 

Bokuto Koutarou didn’t do well in remembering things. That was a fact Akaashi found out a little bit later.

 

\--

 

The first time Akaashi heard that he was to be the next vice-captain of the volleyball team, he wondered why it was him. There were other more talented, more organised, more dependable team members that could have been in that position, but they had reached a consensus. He should have known the reason though, he thought in hindsight. The rest of the team was as excitable as Bokuto, somebody surely had to keep them in check. It got to him too, the whirlwind of emotion that was Bokuto Koutarou.

 

It was also Bokuto who had shown Akaashi that men could fly. Bokuto’s jump might not be the highest, his spikes might not be the strongest, but he had a whole team behind him and he knew they could make him fly. And every time he asked for a toss, he made Akaashi look up at him, making him feel like he’s the wind that enables Bokuto to fly. Every time he despaired after a failed spike, he made Akaashi felt like he’s allowed to look down (not for too long though), because they knew he would get back up. And even when he was not on the court, he would cheer from the sidelines and made Akaashi look back and realise that he’s got a whole team looking after his back.

 

Bokuto made him think the undoable and do the unthinkable.

 

\--

 

Sometimes he thought Bokuto was like an explosion of colours in the sky as the sun rises. Deep blue for when he got dejected for the stupidest reasons, bright yellow when he’s perky and bubbly and infecting everyone with his dose of enthusiasm, and all of the colours in-between for all the pride and the loneliness and the determination and the weariness that had ever resided inside Bokuto. He had been the audience for so many of Bokuto’s expressions, even the not so happy ones, that he couldn’t help feeling elated for being one of the few people who could pull Bokuto out of his whirlwind of emotion so that he could get back to his usual self.

 

He hoped it wouldn’t be too presumptuous of him to think that, just as Bokuto reminded him how to leap, he reminded Bokuto how to breathe.

 

\--

 

That year, Bokuto half laughed and half cried when the volleyball team popped some firecrackers at him and brought him a big cake for his birthday. His expression turned even weirder when he opened the birthday present they had gotten him, a pair of knee protectors covered with messy doodles and scribbles from everyone in the team, done in neon coloured fabric paint. There were a cute owl doodle courtesy of their manager, and a very neat, almost calligraphic message from Akaashi. The rest were what Konoha had argued to be too artistic to be legible. Bokuto put the new knee protectors on the spot and practiced with them for the rest of the day. He later called them his lucky knee protectors and slept with them under his pillow before every important matches.

 

After practice, Akaashi asked if he could have a word with Bokuto, to which he beamed and flinched at the same time, because it usually meant that he had done something to anger Akaashi.

 

“You don’t have to react like that, Bokuto-san. I am not angry. Unless you did do something that might—“

 

“I didn’t do anything! Even If I did, it’s my birthday, so I should be allowed to do anything!”

 

“Yes, it’s your birthday. That was why I called you here. Happy birthday again, Bokuto-san.”

 

Akaashi smiled rare smile that Bokuto always asked for more. Bokuto might not look it but he was perceptive enough to know that there must be more things Akaashi wanted to talk about without the presence of their rowdy team mates. Bokuto just grinned and thanked him again as he waited for Akaashi to tell him more.

 

“Bokuto-san, last year you told me that I should prepare an awesome birthday present for you for this year. I took part in getting you your new knee protector but I just want to apologise if this ends up disappointing, because it’s hard for me to think of something that would be awesome for you. So, I’m just going to give you my word. Although you’re such a pain to deal with, you have been a very dependable person as a captain, as a senior, and as a friend. You have my gratitude for always being there. So now I promise you, that for anything that happen in your life, you can count on me too.”

 

Bokuto stared at Akaashi for a while, partly because he didn’t know that Akaashi could talk that much, partly because he needed some time to fully process the difficult words Akaashi used. Akaashi stared back at him, probably thinking if he should reword it to make it easier for Bokuto to stomach. Before he could come to a conclusion, Bokuto laughed and ruffled Akaashi’s already messy hair.

 

“Heyy! Look at you Akaashi! That was a pretty awesome speech! But it’s already what it’s like no? And even if it’s not, it’s already a given that I count on you! Who else would give me those awesome tosses or put me back on track when I feel down like you always do?”

 

It was Bokuto’s birthday, but as how it had always been to him, Akaashi felt like Bokuto was the one giving him presents. Just by being a part of the world where Bokuto belonged he was able to find out so much about things, about people, and about himself. And when he thought he could give something for Bokuto, that guy had again beaten him to it. Maybe shouldn’t have thought about things too much because Bokuto could always reduce everything to the simplest components and that was what they were. Not a captain and a vice captain, not a wing spiker and a setter, but a Bokuto and an Akaashi. And they were awesome like that.

 

“Bokuto-san, thank you for the compliment. And you were contradicting yourself. But yes, I suppose this is already what it is. I’m sorry for not giving you something either this year. Next year I will do better to prepare a more awesome present for you then.”

 

“Ooh, I’m so looking forward to it! Work hard on it, Akaashi!”

 

Before next year even happened, Bokuto had made it even more difficult for Akaashi to come up with a present that could be defined as awesome with the things that he did every passing day. Because he was Bokuto Koutarou, and he was the most inspiring simpleton whose life Akaashi was glad to be part of.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a kinda late but, happy birthday Bokuto! I swore this was supposed to be for Bokuto but I might have accidentally Akaashi. orz
> 
> Also on [tumblr](http://ficinity.tumblr.com/post/97960988750/we-on-an-atomic-level)


End file.
